Two figures stood on a ridge, a man clad in leather with a hook for a hand, and a teenage girl with her hands buried in the pockets of her brown frock-coat. The man was peering through his telescope and the girl squinting in the same direction. They were joined by a woman and the two figures turned to face her.
"Hello Hook, Nimueh," the woman greeted and girl nodded.
"Hello Cora," the man acknowledged. "You told me you had something important you needed to show us."
In response, Cora held up a small vial containing a purple substance. The girl's eyes narrowed at the sight of it, feeling the magic radiating off of the vial.
"Sparkly dirt. Wonderful," Hook sighed.
"Just the remains of a magical wardrobe that can travel between the worlds," Cora smirked.
"Is that enough to get us to where we need to go?" Nimueh asked hopefully but the woman shook her head.
"Not quite. But it's a start."
"We're almost ready to sail," Hook announced. "What's our port of destination?"
A slow smile spread across Cora's face. "Storybrooke."
"Hm, curious name. Is that where…" Hook trailed off.
"She is. And so is he," Cora added and Nimueh grinned darkly.
"Excellent. You'll be able to see your daughter, and Nimueh and I can skin ourselves a crocodile."
The four women walked cautiously into the camp, weapons drawn at the feeling that something terrible had happened in their absence. Horrified gasps clawed their way out of their throats at the sight that met them. Dead bodies were strewn over the place that had been the only solace in the Enchanted Forest; villager upon villager scattered over the ground, some piled three or four high, blood stains covering their chests.
"Oh my God," Emma whispered and tears sprang to her mother's compassionate eyes.
Everyone was dead.
"This can't be," Mulan frowned, finding her voice at last. "Our land, we were protected here, hidden. How did the ogres find us?"
Mary Margaret, who was crouched next to a body, shook her head. She recognised exactly what had happened here: after all, her step-mother had been quite proficient in it. "Ogres didn't do this."
"What?" The soldier was confused. What other explanation could there have been for this massacre?
"Cora did. Their hearts…they were ripped out," Mary Margaret's voice grew thick with tears. "This was her magic…twisted and evil. We have to stop her."
Mulan threw up her arms helplessly. "Too late! She killed them. She killed them all."
Mary Margaret stood up, crossing her arms over her chest as her eyes went hard. "We have to stop her before she hurts anyone else." There was finality in her voice, the tone that no one should argue with her. It was the voice of a Queen.
Emma and Aurora had drifted away from the conversation between their leaders, their eyes sorting through the bodies desperately, hoping beyond anything that there was someone still alive.
And there was. A groaning sound filled the air and honestly it was the best sound Emma had heard all day.
"Hey," she called back to the other women, "Hey. Look." She pointed in the direction the noise had come from and Aurora helped her to pull bodies away.
Movement. There was definitely someone there.
"There's someone alive under here!" Aurora's breathless exclamation sent Mulan and Mary Margaret running over and the four women managed to haul the bodies off with a renewed sense of purpose. They may not have been able to save everyone else here but they would save this one person, not matter what it took.
"Please," a broken cry came through; a man's voice, low and desperate with an English accent.
Finally they saw him, dark scruff and light eyes, squinting in the sudden light.
"It's okay," Aurora assured him but his fearful expression didn't abate.
"My sister," he pleaded. "Please, help my sister."
There was someone else?
Emma's eyes snapped to the prone figure next to him, whom she had thought was just another body: a girl, roughly late teens with dark brown curls and sporting a bloody head wound.
"She's still alive," the man proclaimed and Emma noticed that his arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, "but I don't know for how much longer. Please help her. She's all I've got left." His voice cracked and Emma could practically see her mother's heart break.
"It's okay. You're both safe now. Your sister is going to be okay," Mary Margaret promised.
The man sighed in relief. "Thank you. Thank you."
The man sat huddled in his cloak at the table, his eyes not leaving the unconscious form of his sister whom Mary Margaret had laid on a pile of cloaks and blankets she had pilfered from the huts. She was still unconscious but the blood on her head had been cleaned and her face had regained some colour. He knew she would awake soon anyway. Oh no, he wasn't worried about that.
Emma stood with Mulan, discreetly watching him. Her delight at finding someone alive had long since faded, now to be replaced with a growing feeling of distrust. Something about this did not add up.
"You've seen them before?" Emma questioned Mulan who stood stoically next to her, one hand constantly on the hilt of her sword.
Mulan nodded. "Yes, I've seen them around. He's a blacksmith. They came to our camp a couple of months ago. Said he lost his hand in an ogre attack. I don't really know anything about the girl. The two mainly keep to themselves."
"Why would Cora leave two survivors? As if one isn't enough," Emma lowered her voice. "It's messy and it doesn't make sense." Unless they're working for her.
Mulan raised an eyebrow. "You think he's lying?"
"I think Cora tricked us before. I don't want that to happen again."
Being pushed into consciousness after being brutally knocked out of it was not a nice feeling. A red hot pain shot through her forehead and she blindly reached towards the source of the pain, eyes still squeezed shut. Her fingers came into contact with the beginnings of a scab and suddenly everything came rushing back to her.
That son of a-
"She's waking up." A woman's voice. Not Cora's but it sounded familiar. The sound sent a burst of pain through her and she winced but opened her eyes because there was no use in pretending she wasn't awake.
The bright light brought an automatic hand up to shield her eyes. After a few seconds her eyes adjusted and she saw that there was more than just one woman standing over her. Four in fact; two of whom she recognised as Aurora and Mulan and the other two wearing the most outlandish clothes she had ever seen. It had been Aurora who had announced her waking and the princess was crouched next to her, an encouraging smile on her face. The girl smiled back weakly, slowly pushing herself into a sitting position. Her dark eyes flickered around searching for one person in particular. He was standing in between the two women she didn't know, arms crossed over his chest and what he thought was a worried expression plastered on his face. He was staring at her intently and she knew exactly what he wanted her to do.
Too bad she wasn't going to do it.
"How are you feeling?" "Do you remember who did this to you?" Two voices spoke at one, the first belonging to the woman with dark short hair, whose face seemed vaguely familiar and the second belonging to the blonde.
Oh yes. She knew exactly what had happened to her. The girl opened her mouth, meaning to say something but the words got stuck in her throat. Just like always.
"She doesn't speak. Nim's a mute," the man spoke up and five sets of eyes turned to look at him. Two were sympathetic, another one surprised and yet another suspicious. The last set of eyes, dark brown and belonging to 'Nim' were downright furious.
"Why didn't you mention this before?" Emma asked, her head tilted slightly as she surveyed the man.
"I didn't think the first thing you'd do when she woke up was interrogate her!" he sounded defensive now and Emma's eyebrows rose slightly.
"Well, seeing as your sister can't tell us anything, why don't you? An island full of corpses…and you two are the only ones to escape. How exactly did that happen?"
The girl raised her eyebrows at her brother mockingly, wanting to hear his story as much as Emma did. Yes, what exactly did happen?
"She attacked at night," he swallowed, "…slaughtered everyone in one fell swoop. When she started ripping out people's hearts, there was ruckus of people who realised what was happening. I took my eyes off my sister for one second and the next someone had managed to hit her in the head and knocked her out. I hid us under the bodies of those who had already been killed. Pretended to be dead as well. Must be the ruse worked."
Emma nodded and turned back to Nim. "Is this what you remember?"
The man stared at her stonily, almost daring her to question him. After a moment, she nodded but Emma didn't look convinced.
Emma narrowed her eyes at the man and leaned down closer to him. "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." He subconsciously moved closer to her, a flirty smirk on his face. "I am pretty good at knowing when someone is lying to me."
Nim hid a smirk at the outraged look on her brother's face.
"I am telling you the truth," he insisted.
Mulan moved forward, getting bored with the questioning of the strangers. "We should leave here, in case Cora decides to come back." This group needed to get their priorities straight if they wanted to survive and this wasting time was grating on her nerves.
"We should start searching for a new portal back to Storybrooke," Mary Margaret chimed in. "I only got about five minutes with my husband, not to mention my grandson."
Both Nim and her brother raised an eyebrow. "You have a grandson?"
Mary Margaret grinned sheepishly. "Long story."
"Well, I know this land well," the man spoke up cheerily. "I can guide you-"
He didn't get the chance to finish because he suddenly found a knife at his throat and a snarling blonde on the other end of it.
"You're not gonna guide us anywhere until you tell us who you really are."
It didn't take long for Nim and her brother to find themselves tied to a tree by Mulan with a stony-faced Emma staring at them and flanked by the two princesses. Nim sighed, cursing the fact that she couldn't answer a single question and get them out of this mess. The only highlight was watching him getting more and more flustered.
"I already told you," he gritted his teeth. "I'm just a blacksmith."
Emma smirked. "Sure you are." She whistled and then turned her back on the captive pair. "You don't want to talk to us? Maybe you'll talk to the ogres while they rip you limb from limb."
Nim's eyes grew wide and she started to struggle against the rope. No way was she going to get eaten by ogres because of this arsehole.
Emma glanced at her apologetically but gestured to other three women to follow her. "Come on."
"What?" The man shrieked. "You…you can't just leave me- us, us- here like this!"
The four women continued to walk away and Nim kicked her brother furiously, practically screaming at him in her mind to get them to come back. He clenched his jaw, knowing that this was ultimately his fault and it wasn't as if Nim could speak to them.
"She's just a child!" he tried again, desperation leaking through his voice. Still, Emma didn't stop but Nim noticed the way her back straightened at that word. Child.
Her brother didn't seem to notice and switched his tactics again. "Good for you! You bested me. I can count the amount of people who've done that on one hand."
That made her stop. Nim frowned. Seriously? A competition made this woman stop?
"That supposed to be funny?" Emma snapped. "Who are you?"
The man glanced at his sister for a second as though asking for her permission. Nim tilted her head imperceptibly and he turned back to the four women with a charming grin on his face.
"This is Nimueh…but you may know her as the Lady of the Lake."
Emma raised her eyebrows and the other three women turned to look at Nim with varying degrees of shock on their faces. Nim nodded in greeting, grinning sarcastically.
"As in Excalibur and King Arthur?" Emma frowned. Nim pulled a face but nodded.
"O-kay. And you?" Emma turned back to the man.
"Killian Jones, but most people have taken to call me by my more colourful moniker…Hook."
"Hook," Mary Margaret deadpanned.
"Look, just check my satchel if you don't believe me," Hook sighed.
Mary Margaret looked reluctant but picked up the brown bag and rooted through it. The first item she brought out was a sword, slightly smaller than a normal one. She held it up questioningly. "And what is that supposed to prove?"
Hook smiled, teeth shining, like a shark. "That is Excalibur."
Emma's eyebrows shot up and Mary Margaret nearly dropped the sword in shock, prompting Hook to call rather mockingly, "Careful lass, it is sharp." The woman ignored him, instead inspecting the sword closer and saw that it certainly looked anything but ordinary: it was sleek and elegant, a thin shining blade engraved with symbols she had never seen before and matching symbols surrounding what looked like a small ruby sitting delicately in the hilt. The weapon practically radiated power.
"The Excalibur?" Emma breathed.
"No, the other one," Hook scoffed and Nim hit her head back against the tree trunk in exasperation.
"Fine, so she's the Lady of the Lake," the blonde nodded. "But that doesn't prove that you're Captain Hook."
"Captain Hook?" he smirked. "So you have heard of me?"
Emma glared at him.
Suddenly Mary Margaret let out a small gasp.
"What is it?" Emma called over her shoulder, her eyes still on Hook.
"Look," Mary Margaret breathed and Emma did just that, turning her head to look at her mother and her eyes rested on a hook. She stared at it for a second almost in disbelief before turning back to face the pirate.
"Okay. You better hurry up. They're getting closer. So unless you want for you and your sister to be dinner, you better start talking."
"Cora wanted us to gain your trust so we could learn everything there is to know about your Storybrooke. She didn't want any surprises when she finally got over there."
"She can't get there," Mary Margaret spoke assertively. "We destroyed the wardrobe."
"Ah, but the enchantment remains," Hook returned. "Cora gathered the ashes. She's going to use them to open up a portal."
A roar filled the air and Nim stiffened. The ogres were close. She was going to be ogre-bait and she couldn't even use her damn magic to get herself out-
"Now if you'll kindly cut us loose."
Mulan shook her head. "No. We should leave them both here to die to pay for the lives they took."
Nim opened her mouth in outrage but of course nothing came out.
"That was Cora, not us," Hook argued but Emma was already backing away, unable to look at Nimueh as she did so. Nim silently scoffed at the woman's cowardice: she couldn't even look at the person she was leaving to die.
"One more thing before we go," Emma started and Hook leaned forward expectantly, hoping to be let go.
"You two aren't even related are you?"
The other three women gasped but Emma merely raised her eyebrows. "Well?"
Nimueh and Hook exchanged a look before simultaneously shaking their heads. Emma smirked triumphantly, as if congratulating herself for her observations.
"So what are you?" Mary Margaret called.
Hook smirked. "Old friends, I guess you could say."
Emma frowned and called, "Let's go," to her companions, ignoring the enraged looks of Hook and Nimueh and the disapproving looks from Mary Margaret. Nonetheless, the four women began to walk away.
Nim pulled furiously against the ropes and kicked Hook's leg to get his attention. The pirate turned his head, reluctant to take his eyes off of the four retreating figures, as she struggled to pull up the sleeve on her left arm to reveal a leather cuff sitting there. Nim caught his eye and Hook knew exactly what she was telling him.
If you take this off, I can get us out of here.
Hook shook his head and instead called out, "Wait. Wait! You need us alive."
Nim fell back against the tree defeated. Her one chance to get this bloody thing off of her arm, gone. Hook's big gob had better get them out of this…
"Why?" Emma stopped, cocking her head to the side in interest.
"Because we both want the same thing: to get back to your land."
Emma scoffed. "You would say anything to save you and your friend. Why are we supposed to believe you now?"
"We arranged for transport with Cora but, seeing how resourceful you are, I'll offer you the same deal: we'll help you if you promise to take us along."
Mary Margaret looked doubtful. "How are you going to help get us home?"
"The ashes will open a portal," Hook explained. "But to find your land, she needs more. There's an enchanted compass. Cora seeks it. Nim and I will help you obtain it before she does."
Emma started to nod. "So Cora won't be able to make it to Storybrooke, and we'll be one step closer to getting home."
Mary Margaret frowned. "Sounds too good to be true."
Hook raised an eyebrow. "There's only one way to find out."
Suddenly, the ground began to shake with the sound of footsteps drawing nearer. The ogres. Emma looked briefly in the direction of the ogres before turning back to Hook and Nimueh.
"You tell me one thing, whatever you say, I better believe it. Why do Captain Hook and the Lady of the Lake want to go to Storybrooke?"
Hook's smiled darkly. "To exact revenge on the man who ruined our lives: Rumpelstiltskin."
Nimueh frowned at the approaching figure of a ship, crossing her arms over her chest as she felt a figure come up to stand beside her.
"Looks like we have visitors," he murmured and Nim nodded.
"I'll go see who it is," she replied, patting his chest as she turned to call out a command, "Boys, get the boat. We have visitors!"
"Be careful," he warned almost teasingly but Nim could see a glint of underlying fear in his eyes.
"I'll be fine love," she reassured him, checking that Excalibur was firmly fastened to her belt before striding down the beach and climbing into the small rowing boat. Felix climbed in beside her, his cloak obscuring his face but Nim knew that he had that ever-present smirk on it. She rolled her eyes, smiling as one of the boys pushed the boat away from shore.
With three other boys and Felix helping to row the boat, they came alongside the ship fairly quickly and Nimueh's eyebrows furrowed at the fact that the ship had dropped anchor. They were expecting them. Nim grimaced as she stood, causing the boat to rock slightly, before grabbing hold of the side of the ship and hauling herself overboard. Felix was not far behind and the two stood on the ledge, Felix with his club over his shoulder and Nim fingering the hilt of Excalibur, smirking at the ship's crew...
...and it's very familiar captain.
"I didn't expect to be seeing you again," Nimueh smiled, tilting her head at the figure of Killian Jones, a far-cry from the naval officer he had been, instead wearing a black leather coat and leather trousers.
The captain merely smirked in return, holding his hand out as he gestured to his boat. "I have a gift for you."
Nim's eyebrows shot up. "For me? What could I possibly want from you?"
He turned to point at the door to below deck. "She's through there."
"She? What's a woman doing on a pirate ship?"
Killian raised at eyebrow at that comment, clearly not expecting her to be able to guess that, but he merely smiled. "She wanted to see you...and I'll wager that you want to see her too."
Nim exchanged a look with Felix, who shook his head, convinced that this was a trap. She turned back to Killian and shrugged, before jumping down off the ledge and onto the deck. "Alright. But fair warning: if I don't come back, these boys will slaughter your crew. And I'm sure you know that he'll never let you leave here."
Killian sighed. "I'm well aware."
Casting a teasing look back at Felix, Nim pushed opened the door to the captain's quarters and was met with the sight of a woman. The woman had her back to Nim and was dressed in a black blouse with a red waistcoat and brown leather trousers. This woman looked like a pirate but Nim knew of no female pirates.
Nim coughed gently, alerting the woman to her presence and causing her to turn around
Nim felt her stomach drop at the face that met her.
"Mama?"
Nimueh flexed her wrist and winced. She was grateful for the removal of the rope and even more so for the fact that the women had chosen to leave her hands untied, unlike those of Killian. The pirate strode through the forest just in front of her with Emma hot on his heels. The blonde was unwilling to let him out of her sight but had apparently deemed Nim to not be a threat and had left the girl to walk with her mother.
Mary Margaret shot Nim a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry about…you know." The woman winced, disgusted at herself for actually allowing Emma to leave these people to die.
Nim sensed the woman's discomfort and smiled back. Not your fault.
Emma was the obvious leader in this group, despite the fact that she was clearly very uncomfortable in this land. The clothes were an obvious giveaway that Emma did not belong here, but there was also the fact than Emma carried what appeared to be a weapon of some sort but one that Nim had never seen before. Mary Margaret was dressed in the same style of clothing as the blonde, yet she seemed perfectly at ease here. Emma, however, was on edge and…well, clueless to the ways of this land.
"Up ahead," Killian called. "We'll find the compass just over the ridge."
Mary Margaret increased her pace so that she walked next to Emma. "Do you get the feeling that he's leading us exactly where Cora wants us, that this whole thing's a trap?"
"It's definitely a trap," Emma murmured. "As long as we know they're trying to play us, we can…"
"…stay one step ahead of them," Mary Margaret finished but looked over her shoulder at Nim who was now walking between Aurora and Mulan, the former trying to engage in a cheerful one-sided conversation and the latter looking downright uncomfortable. "What about Nim?"
Emma swallowed. "I don't know. Part of the time I think she's here against her will but if she wants revenge on Mr Gold…"
"The Lady of the Lake is a very powerful witch," Mary Margaret whispered. "But surely she would have used her magic to get herself away from the ogres?"
Emma nodded. "I don't think she's not using her magic willingly."
Mary Margaret stifled a gasp. "You think she doesn't have it."
"I think we need to keep an eye on her."
The group suddenly emerged from the trees to see a large beanstalk standing in the middle of a field in the distance, stretching up into the sky and through the clouds.
"Let me guess…the compass is up there?" Emma called to Hook who only grinned in return.
"Oh yeah."
"So how do we…get to it?"
"It's not the climb you need to worry about. It's the giant at the top."
Rumpelstiltskin was going to enjoy killing this horrid little man.
Killian Jones, the man who had stolen his wife, was finally going to pay for what he had done, going feel the pain that he had felt when Milah had left. Rumpelstiltskin stuck his hand into the pirate's chest and curled his fingers around the man's heart. He made to tear the heart from his chest when two voices filled the air.
"Stop!"
"Papa!"
Rumpelstiltskin felt his own heart nearly give out. "Milah? Nimueh?"
Milah stepped forward, clad in clothes that made Rumple want to tear his eyes out. She looked just like a pirate. Just like him.
Nimueh was closely behind her mother, wearing a brown frock coat on top of a turquoise corset top with black trousers and knee-length boots. Strapped to her waist was a sword Rumpelstiltskin would have easily recognised had he been less distracted. As it was, all that he was thinking was that this was a far cry from the twelve-year old girl Rumple remembered, the one who wore dresses and hung on his every word. But, he realised with a jolt, it was his fault that she was no longer that girl and never would be again.
In his shock, Rumpelstiltskin removed his hand from the pirate's chest and the man practically fell to the ground.
"Hello papa," Nim grinned, her eyes hard and cold. "Been a long time. Tell me, have you always been this…sparkly?"
"How?" Rumpelstiltskin breathed, looking between his daughter and wife in confusion.
"Milah, Nim, just run," Killian called desperately.
"No. I'm not leaving without you," Milah replied forcefully.
"Yeah Killian, you're my ride home," Nim added, not taking her eyes off of her father.
Rumpelstiltskin didn't hear his daughter's remark, instead focussing on the worried look in Milah's eyes. "Oh how sweet," he crooned. "It appears there's more to this tale than I know. Tell it to me Milah."
"Please, don't hurt him. I can explain."
"Tick tock, dearie. Tick tock."
Nimueh winced at the tone her father's voice had taken on. She knew that she had been away for a long time but she had no idea that her father had become this. It almost made her grateful that he had abandoned her when he had, or else she would have been forced to watch as he became this crazed man.
"That first night, when Killian and his crew came into the tavern, he told stories about the places he'd been. And I fell in love with him. I didn't mean for it to turn out this way. I didn't know how to tell you the truth. I'm sorry." At the tale, Milah's eyes had taken on a misty quality that Rumple did not like. One bit.
He swallowed and turned to his daughter. "And you? Why are you here? What have you been doing since-"
"Since you abandoned me and left me to die?" Nim cut in, her voice like knives. "Oh, so much." Nim stepped forward but Milah's hand on her shoulder prevented the girl from getting too close to her father. "Do you not remember meeting a girl named Nimueh when you were seventeen years old? Did I really make such a fleeting impression?"
Rumpelstiltskin's eyes widened as realisation dawned. "That was you?"
Nim smiled and her next words were like honey. "Yes Papa, you named me after that girl you left to die when you were a teenager, as a… commemoration I guess. But then you abandoned me anyway. Turns out, you named your daughter after your daughter."
"Time travel is impossible," Rumpelstiltskin hissed.
Nim smirked. "Not in Avalon dearie."
Rumpelstiltskin swallowed and his eyes hardened as he turned back to a confused looking Milah, arms out wide when he announced, "And so, here we are. You've come to save the life of your twoo wuv- the pirate. I didn't realise the power of true love before. It is impressive. I'd hate to break it up. Actually…no. I'd love to."
Nim hadn't realised how close Rumpelstiltskin had gotten to Killian until he pushed his sword into Killian's side. Milah started forward, desperate to stop him.
"Wait!" She cried. "I have something you want."
"Mama," Nim called warningly but Milah shot her a look that said 'I know what I'm doing.'
Rumpelstiltskin was dubious. "Well, I find that very hard to believe."
Milah pulled out Smee's red hat and Nim wanted to face palm. She couldn't be serious?!
"Where did you get that?"
"You know who I took it from. I may not know what the Dark One wants with a magic bean, but I have it."
Rumpelstiltskin smiled and his voice became high pitched. "Oh, I feel a proposal coming on."
Milah exchanged a look with her daughter who nodded reluctantly. "The magic bean in exchange for our lives. Deal?"
"I want to see it first."
Nim and Milah helped a wounded Killian back to the ship and were immediately met by a pirate asking, "What happened?"
"Fetch some water," Milah commanded and handed Killian to Nimueh who helped him to lean against the side of the mast. "And get me that prisoner below deck, along with the goods that he carried. Now!"
The pirate turned back and called, "Bring up the prisoner!"
Nimueh crouched beside Killian and placed a hand over the wound closing her eyes in concentration.
"What are you doing?" he grunted painfully.
"Just a little trick I picked up in Avalon," Nim murmured. "Now hush, let me concentrate."
Slowly, the skin began to repair itself and the wound closed. Killian looked up in amazement, feeling only an aching pain, and carefully touched the skin where the wound had once been. "You are wasted on that bloody island."
Nim hit his shoulder good-naturedly and stood up, dusting her hands on her trousers. "You're just lucky the wound was fairly shallow. Anything more than that and I wouldn't have been able to help you."
"Ah, my daughter the healer," a mocking voice filled the air and Nimueh glared at her father as he boarded the ship.
"Well Milah," he commented to her mother. "Seems like you finally found a family…you could never have with me."
Nimueh rolled her eyes at the self-pitying tone of his voice.
"Alright, get your sorry arse up there." The pirate reappeared with the prisoner being dragged by the crew. Milah took Smee's satchel and took out the magic bean, holding it up to Rumpelstiltskin as evidence. He moved to take it but, before he could, Milah flung the bean at Killian who caught it and clenched it in his hand.
"You asked to see it and now you have," Killian stated, holding where his wound had once been as an aching pain juddered through him. Nimueh had successfully healed the wound but he still felt a fraction of the pain it had caused and that was still enough to hinder him.
"Do we have a deal? Can we go our separate ways?" Milah asked, her eyes wide.
"Do you mean, do I forgive you? Can I move on?" Rumpelstiltskin replied. "Perhaps, perhaps. I can see you are twooly in love."
Milah sighed in relief. "Thank you." But Nim didn't buy her father's words for one second.
"Just one question," Rumpelstiltskin began, holding up a finger.
"What do you want to know?" Milah frowned, unaware of Nimueh stiffening beside her.
"How could you leave Bae?"
That's when all hell broke loose. Several ropes anchoring the ship began to magically become undone. Nim's eyes widened and she held up a hand, running along the side of the ship and magically redoing the ropes. Rumpelstiltskin didn't notice, instead stepping closer and closer towards Milah.
"Do you know what it's like, walking home that night-"
"Rumpel-" Milah tried but the man wasn't having any of it.
"Knowing I had to tell our son-"
"Please."
"That his mother was dead?"
Nim watched Rumpelstiltskin with wide eyes; her hands still up as she attempted to keep the ropes under control. The Dark One was snarling at his wife now and Milah continued backing away.
"I was wrong to lie to you. I was the coward, I-"
"You left him! You abandoned him!" Rumpelstiltskin was yelling now and Nim suddenly grew furious.
"And you left me to die!" she screamed, dropping her hands as she glared at the imp. Rumpelstiltskin turned to look at her, instead waving a hand in her direction to shoot magic at her. Nim threw up a hand in response, ready to throw his spell back at him, but the Dark One smirked and waved his hand at a pile of ropes lying on the deck. They magically wound themselves around a furious Nimueh like an enchanted snake, tightening against the girl's every struggle. Rumpelstiltskin stalked towards his daughter, pointing a shaking finger in her glaring face and he glanced down at the sword hanging from her belt, recognising it instantly.
"Well dearie, you may be the Guardian of Avalon," he smirked. "But I am still the Dark One and your feeble powers are no match for mine."
Nim spat in his face, still struggling against the ropes. Rumpelstiltskin wiped the spit from his face, smirking, and giggled before stepping back to a shaking Milah.
"Why were you so miserable?" he asked her softly.
Milah's eyes were shining with tears as her husband stopped in front of her. "Because I never loved you."
That's when Rumpelstiltskin finally snapped. He stuck his hand through Milah's chest, grabbing her heart.
"Milah!" Killian yelled, the same time as Nim screamed, "Mama!"
Killian stumbled forward, despite his pain, but Rumpelstiltskin easily stopped him, waving his other hand and binding the pirate to the mast. The Dark One pulled out Milah's heart and the woman fell painfully to the deck.
"No!" Both Nimueh and Killian cried. A surge of magic escaped her and the ropes fell weakly away, just as Killian also managed to escape his binds and caused one of the hooks to fall onto the wooden deck. The pair both ran to Milah, Killian behind her and laying the woman against his chest and Nimueh falling at her mother's side.
"I love you," Milah murmured to both of them, stroking her daughter's cheek and placing her other hand on Killian's cheek.
"No Mama," Nim sobbed, placing her hand over Milah's. She turned to face her father. "Please Papa."
Rumpelstiltskin's eyes were cold as he crushed Milah's heart, letting the dust fall through his fingers.
Nimueh watched him numbly, feeling Milah's hand fall.
"I will never forgive you for this."
Author's Note: Well, since this is a Peter Pan/OC story, for obvious reasons, Peter is not Rumpelstiltskin's father. That storyline was just kinda creepy to me and I had this idea before I watched that episode so...
I hope you liked it. xx